5.  The applicant was born in 1961 and is currently detained in Rustavi No. 1 Prison.
6.  Under a contract of 18 January 2001, the Ministry of State Property Management (“the Ministry”) undertook to transfer to the applicant 90 % of the shares of the “Georgian State Insurance JSC” (“the company”), on condition that he, amongst other obligations, increased the company’s initial capital to 480,000 Georgian laris (EUR 218,000[1]) within a month of signing the contract.
7.  On 14 March and 7 May 2001, the Ministry requested an up-date of the progress made in the performance of the contractual obligations. The applicant replied by submitting documents, according to which the amount of USD 250,000 (EUR 207,000), initially placed with a Canadian bank, had been transferred to the company’s account opened with a Georgian bank.
8.  Following the recommendation of the Georgian National Bank (a State agency), the Prosecutor General’s Office (“the PGO”) examined the applicant’s financial operations. In a decision of 26 January 2004, a senior prosecutor of the PGO, having established the authenticity of the bank records submitted by the applicant, refused, pursuant to Article 28 § 1 (a) of the Code of Criminal Procedure (“the CCP”), to institute criminal proceedings for an alleged falsification of those documents. (The applicant did not submit a copy of that decision to the Court.)
9.  On 28 April 2004 the Prosecutor General personally opened a criminal case regarding the misappropriation of 90 % of the State’s shares by fraud and the falsification of bank documents, offences envisaged respectively by Articles 180 § 3 (b) and 362 of the Criminal Code (“the CC”). (The parties did not submit a copy of that decision.)
10.  On 5 May 2004 the applicant was charged and taken into custody.
11.  Initially, the applicant was placed in a “quarantine cell” at Tbilisi No. 1 Prison. According to him, the cell was filthy, dilapidated, infested with vermin, and without ventilation or natural light. Shortly afterwards, the applicant was transferred to an ordinary cell in the same prison where there were 24 beds for the 57 inmates held there. The detainees were obliged to take turns to sleep. The cell was unsanitary and the food putrid.
12.  On 8 May 2004 the Krtsanisi-Mtatsminda District Court in Tbilisi dismissed the applicant’s request for release, remanding him in custody for three months. An oral hearing was held. In its reasoning the court stated:
“the collected evidence...discloses a reasonable suspicion that the accused has committed the incriminated offences...The evidence has been gathered in conformity with procedural norms...Due regard should be had to the fact that the applicant is charged with serious crimes...The case materials substantiate the suspicion that he might interfere with the establishment of the truth...In view of the prospect of a severe punishment, [he] may abscond...”
13.  In his appeal of 9 May 2004, the applicant complained that the imposition of detention on remand had been justified solely by the gravity of the charges and the severity of the sentence. In his view, the prosecution had not put forward any specific evidence or arguments supporting any actual risk of him colluding or absconding. The applicant claimed to have been actively cooperating with the prosecution authority even prior to his arrest by always appearing, whenever summoned for interviews, and by producing all the requested evidence which, in fact, had become the basis of the criminal case file against him. As another guarantee of his reliability, the applicant referred to his “good reputation”, associated with the fact of being a designated trustee of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce.
14.  The PGO replied that the detention was justified by the gravity of the charges and a reasonable suspicion that the applicant could interfere with the establishment of the truth. However, no concrete arguments or factual circumstances of the particular case were put forward in this regard.
15.  On 13 May 2004 the Tbilisi Regional Court dismissed the applicant’s appeal against the remand measure at an oral hearing. Whilst analysing various pieces of evidence, the court had regard mostly to whether or not the charges were well-founded. Concerning the grounds for detention, the court reiterated that, pursuant to Articles 151 and 159 of the CCP, the gravity of the offence justified the imposition of the measure. The appellate hearing was attended by the applicant and his advocates.
16.  On 6 August 2004 the PGO terminated the preliminary investigation and transferred the case, along with the bill of indictment, to the trial court.
17.  On 6 December 2004 the Vake-Saburtalo District Court in Tbilisi committed the applicant for trial under Article 417 § 1 of the CCP and confirmed the remand in custody. This decision was rendered in a standard, template form with pre-printed reasoning. The judge simply added, in the blank spaces, a brief statement of facts, the name of the accused, the definition of the impugned offence and the measure of pre-trial restraint. As regards the confirmation of the latter, the printed standard phrase read as follows:
“The measure of pre-trial restraint – detention – has been correctly chosen.”
18.  On 11 February 2005 the Vake-Saburtalo District Court in Tbilisi started the examination of the case on the merits, and on the 17th convicted the applicant of attempted fraud. The court sentenced him to three years in prison. The charge of falsification of bank documents was dropped as time‑barred. The verdict was based on a thorough assessment of the criminal case materials.
19.  On 13 February 2006 the Tbilisi Regional Court dismissed the applicant’s appeal and upheld the verdict of 17 February 2005 with some merely textual amendments.
20.  On 20 June 2006 the Supreme Court dismissed the applicant’s cassation appeal. It noted that the circumstances of the case had been carefully examined by the preliminary and judicial investigations, that no significant breaches of procedural law had occurred and that the lower courts had correctly assessed the facts and the law.
21.  Amongst the complaints made by the applicant before the appellate and cassation courts, the applicant raised the same matters as those now put before the Court under Article 6 of the Convention (see paragraph 83 below).
22.  After his conviction, the applicant was transferred to Rustavi No. 1 Prison, where the conditions were, according to him, similar to those in Tbilisi No. 1 Prison.
23.  The applicant alleged that the following incident occurred during his detention: In the early morning of 30 January 2006, he was awoken by the noise of machine gun fire in Rustavi No. 1 Prison. As it appeared later, the police forces had conducted a special operation against criminal elements there.
24.  The applicant complained about the conditions in Rustavi No. 1 Prison and the incident of 30 January 2006 to several national and international non-governmental organisations, but never to the prosecution or judicial authorities, according to the case file. Whilst claiming to have written a letter to the Head of Rustavi Prison, informing the latter of the poor conditions of his detention, the applicant did not produce any copy thereof, or indicate its date.
25. On an unspecified date, the administration of Rustavi No. 1 Prison disciplined the applicant for failing to attend a mandatory inspection of prisoners, and he was placed in a punishment cell for three days. However, he has never complained about this to any competent national authority, considering that such a course of action would have been ineffective.
26.  On 21 September 2006 the Ministry of Justice, the authority in charge of the penitentiary system, initiated criminal proceedings against the applicant for using a mobile telephone in Rustavi No. 1 Prison, in breach of the prison rules.
27.  At an oral hearing on 22 September 2006 attended by the applicant, the Tbilisi City Court allowed the prosecutor’s motion and imposed upon the applicant detention on remand for two months. The court reasoned that, since the applicant was already detained following his conviction, it was impossible to apply any other measure of pre-trial restraint.
28.  On 27 October 2006 the Tbilisi Regional Court, sitting in camera, dismissed the applicant’s appeal and upheld the order of 22 September 2006.
29.  The applicant addressed several complaints to the PGO, requesting the termination of the allegedly unlawful proceedings. He also claimed that his procedural rights were breached during the investigation.
30.  According to the case file, the second set of criminal proceedings against the applicant is still pending before a court of first instance.